all done, Iâll have to stay here with you. Like before.â The feeling of electricity under his skin was getting worse and worse and Grimshaw couldnât stop it. He yelped, as an all-over-body twitch got him so badly that he dropped his notebook and had to scrabble to pick it up.
Lampwick sighed. âWhy I couldnât have created a curse with more ⦠more pizzazz, I donât know.â
âBecause you arenât a magician. Youâre just a common thief who pretends to be a magician.â
âSomeone I could have had a discussion with â¦â
âCurse demons donât do discussions, they do curses.â
âAnd that twitch is getting worse.â
âNo, itâs not!â
âSomething with intelligence â¦â
âIâm as clever as you are,â snapped Grimshaw, flattening his ears and flicking his tail indignantly. âCleverer!â
â⦠and style.â
Grimshaw shut up. He could claim to be bright, but he certainly couldnât put his hand up to style. Now Tun, he had style. Even more than the Mighty Curse, who was just the most powerful curse demon ever made. Grimshaw flipped his ears thoughtfully. On reflection, maybe the Mighty Curse won on that point too â the total annihilation of all living things did have a certain flair.
âAnyway, tell me about the knives again. I liked that. Tell me about how they looked falling through the sky, all bright in the sun. And about how whatsisname â¦â
âJon Figg.â
â⦠was right underneath. Tell me about the blood spurting all over the pavement and the bitsââ
âThey werenât knives; they were saws, electric saws.â
âOh, electric.â Lampwick waved a hand airily. âThat silly modern invention youâre always going on about. We had gas in my day, that was good enough for us. Nothing like the atmosphere of a couple of turned-downgaslights. Or candles! I suppose theyâve forgotten about candles â¦â
Grimshaw listened while Lampwick rambled on. He had heard it all before. Having spent over a century in his Architectâs company, there was nothing that Lampwick could say that was new to Grimshaw.
Back in the days when he was alive, Lampwick had pretended to be a master magician who could see into the future. Even real master magicians couldnât do that because no human being could see into the future, they just werenât built that way. But Lampwick used a crystal ball and some clever lighting to make more than one rich woman believe him. His best trick was to âforeseeâ his poor victimâs death, but claim that he couldnât quite make out the details of how it happened. The victims then paid Lampwick a lot of money to keep trying because they wanted to be able to avoid it when the time came. He wasnât called Lampwick the Robber for nothing.
âThe funniest was young Mrs Carroll. Her husband kept a tight rein on the money so she had to find other ways to pay. Did I ever tell you â¦â
âYes.â
â⦠about the things she could do with a couple of carrots and a boiled potato?â
âDefinitely.â
âWonderful cook she was. I remember the time â¦â
Grimshaw flicked his ears as the sense reached him that Mrs Jones and the weird boy had stopped moving. He had been going to leave it until morning to take thenext step, but that would mean hanging around with Lampwick all night. An idea occurred to him and he almost chuckled out loud.
âGot to stop you there,â he said quickly, holding up a claw tipped paw.
Lampwick glared at him. âI was telling you aboutââ
âI gotta go. Mrs Jones has stopped running â¦â
âI do wish I could do something about that twitch.â
â⦠so I can go and do the weird boy.â
âAhh, yes. You never did tell me what makes him so odd.â
âHe hardly
Lampwick sighed. âWhy I couldnât have created a curse with more ⦠more pizzazz, I donât know.â
âBecause you arenât a magician. Youâre just a common thief who pretends to be a magician.â
âSomeone I could have had a discussion with â¦â
âCurse demons donât do discussions, they do curses.â
âAnd that twitch is getting worse.â
âNo, itâs not!â
âSomething with intelligence â¦â
âIâm as clever as you are,â snapped Grimshaw, flattening his ears and flicking his tail indignantly. âCleverer!â
â⦠and style.â
Grimshaw shut up. He could claim to be bright, but he certainly couldnât put his hand up to style. Now Tun, he had style. Even more than the Mighty Curse, who was just the most powerful curse demon ever made. Grimshaw flipped his ears thoughtfully. On reflection, maybe the Mighty Curse won on that point too â the total annihilation of all living things did have a certain flair.
âAnyway, tell me about the knives again. I liked that. Tell me about how they looked falling through the sky, all bright in the sun. And about how whatsisname â¦â
âJon Figg.â
â⦠was right underneath. Tell me about the blood spurting all over the pavement and the bitsââ
âThey werenât knives; they were saws, electric saws.â
âOh, electric.â Lampwick waved a hand airily. âThat silly modern invention youâre always going on about. We had gas in my day, that was good enough for us. Nothing like the atmosphere of a couple of turned-downgaslights. Or candles! I suppose theyâve forgotten about candles â¦â
Grimshaw listened while Lampwick rambled on. He had heard it all before. Having spent over a century in his Architectâs company, there was nothing that Lampwick could say that was new to Grimshaw.
Back in the days when he was alive, Lampwick had pretended to be a master magician who could see into the future. Even real master magicians couldnât do that because no human being could see into the future, they just werenât built that way. But Lampwick used a crystal ball and some clever lighting to make more than one rich woman believe him. His best trick was to âforeseeâ his poor victimâs death, but claim that he couldnât quite make out the details of how it happened. The victims then paid Lampwick a lot of money to keep trying because they wanted to be able to avoid it when the time came. He wasnât called Lampwick the Robber for nothing.
âThe funniest was young Mrs Carroll. Her husband kept a tight rein on the money so she had to find other ways to pay. Did I ever tell you â¦â
âYes.â
â⦠about the things she could do with a couple of carrots and a boiled potato?â
âDefinitely.â
âWonderful cook she was. I remember the time â¦â
Grimshaw flicked his ears as the sense reached him that Mrs Jones and the weird boy had stopped moving. He had been going to leave it until morning to take thenext step, but that would mean hanging around with Lampwick all night. An idea occurred to him and he almost chuckled out loud.
âGot to stop you there,â he said quickly, holding up a claw tipped paw.
Lampwick glared at him. âI was telling you aboutââ
âI gotta go. Mrs Jones has stopped running â¦â
âI do wish I could do something about that twitch.â
â⦠so I can go and do the weird boy.â
âAhh, yes. You never did tell me what makes him so odd.â
âHe hardly
Similar Books
